Definitions for backpackˈbækˌpæk

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word backpack

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:(0.00 / 0 votes)

backpack, back pack, knapsack, packsack, rucksack, haversack(verb)

a bag carried by a strap on your back or shoulder

backpack, pack(verb)

hike with a backpack

"Every summer they are backpacking in the Rockies"

WiktionaryRate this definition:(0.00 / 0 votes)

backpack(Noun)

A knapsack, sometimes mounted on a light frame, but always supported by straps, worn on a personu2019s back for the purpose of carrying things, especially when hiking, or on a student's back when carrying books.

backpack(Noun)

A similarly placed item containing a parachute or other life-support equipment.

backpack(Verb)

To hike and camp overnight in backcountry with one's gear carried in a backpack.

backpack(Verb)

To engage in low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodations.

backpack(Verb)

To place or carry (an item or items) in a backpack.

Origin: back + pack

FreebaseRate this definition:(0.00 / 0 votes)

Backpack

A backpack is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but there can be exceptions. Lightweight types of backpacks are sometimes worn on only one shoulder strap.
Backpacks are often preferred to handbags for carrying heavy loads or carrying any sort of equipment, because of the limited capacity to carry heavy weights for long periods of time in the hands. Large backpacks, used to carry loads over 10 kg, usually offload the largest part of their weight onto padded hip belts, leaving the shoulder straps mainly for stabilising the load. This improves the potential to carry heavy loads, as the hips are stronger than the shoulders, and also increases agility and balance, since the load rides nearer the wearer's own center of mass.
In ancient times, the backpack was used as a means to carry the hunter's larger game and other types of prey and as a way of easier transport for other materials. In the cases of larger hunts, the hunters would dismember their prey and distribute the pieces of the animal around, each one packing the meat into many wrappings and then into bags which they placed on to their backs. The bag itself was made up of different animal hide and skin and sewn together by the intestines of said animals, which were woven together tightly to make a sturdy thread-like material.